The reluctant Commissioner

It seems that Markos Kyprianou, the European commissioner for health and consumer protection, will have his workload cut.

The Cypriot has already been told by Barroso that the portfolio could be split when the Commission acquires two new commissioners in January, one from Romania and one from Bulgaria. Kyprianou would retain health and one of the new arrivals would get consumer protection. All this has prompted speculation that Kyprianou might return to Cyprus. His record of cancelling engagements and his lacklustre performances at the Parliament have been offered up as examples of apparent disinterest. “It is a bit difficult to know where he is,” said one observer. Sources close to Kyprianou say that it is “absolutely not the case that he plans to return to Cypriot politics”, despite him being asked to run for president of the Democratic Party which was founded by his father. “He has a better chance of reaching high office if he completes his term rather than leaving after two years,” said one source. Good to clear things up.

There is something splendidly parochial about the state-aid investigation launched last week by the European Commission’s competition department into JC Decaux, a French advertising company. The question …